Following an announcement that the U.S. Postal Service organization will speed up efforts to cut costs, residents of smaller communities in Tazewell County are being asked whether they prefer reducing the hours of their local post office or shutting it down in exchange for mail delivery.

Following an announcement that the U.S. Postal Service organization will speed up efforts to cut costs, residents of smaller communities in Tazewell County are being asked whether they prefer reducing the hours of their local post office or shutting it down in exchange for mail delivery.

The Postal Service announced Jan. 14 that its board of directors had decided to accelerate the restructuring of its operations, presumably referring to the plan announced the previous May to reduce the hours of operation for 13,000 smaller, more rural post offices from eight hours per day to four or six hours. That announcement was a change from the plan announced in January 2011 to close 3,700 post offices nationwide.

Now, residents in South Pekin have received a survey asking them which of four options they would prefer for the future of their post office, and a public meeting with Postal Service officials has been scheduled for 2 p.m. Feb. 26, according to South Pekin Postmaster Mick Maas, who said the topic has sparked a lot of questions and concern among residents.

South Pekin, like other small communities, does not have home delivery of mail. Instead, residents have a post office box in which to receive their mail, turning the local post office into a hub of local gossip in several communities.

Maas said the survey that has gone out gives residents four options, and only one of them is to keep the post office open — but for a reduced six hours per day. The other options are to either shut down the post office and institute “home delivery,” shut down the post office and contract a local business to host mail services, or shut down the post office and move the post office boxes to another post office, which would likely be Pekin.

Maas said that while the “home delivery” option might seem more convenient, there is no guarantee village residents would get mail delivered directly to their houses. The option could mean that community boxes would be placed around the village, and if residents needed to mail a package or pick up a package that needs to be signed for they would have to go to the nearest post office in Pekin.

A meeting is also scheduled for noon Feb. 21 for Green Valley residents, of which Maas is one, concerning that village’s post office. Maas said she hopes a lot of residents show up because she knows there are a lot of questions and she hopes residents show support for their post office.

Hopedale recently had its own meeting and residents filled the lobby, according to postal officials in the area.

Rebecca Brummitt, who works for the Postal Service out of Peoria, confirmed that other areas have already been through this process of change so it seems likely that residents in Tazewell and Mason counties who rely on post offices with uncertain futures should expect to receive surveys, or at least expect a public meeting to be scheduled in their town soon.